In the spring I found these great ideas but when I copied somehow I missed the author. I’d really like to publish their name and give them credit. If you know the author or are the author please let me know. Any great ideas you have, why not share as well.Thanks

Pam

You can turn the “recession” around for your business by doing the following:

During the recession the smart minded entrepreneur uses this opportunity to capture market share from their competitors that are leaving the business. Their customers aren’t disappearing. They still need their needs, wants and desires filled… and it’s now yours for the taking.
1) Follow your competitors.
Follow your competition and watch for who is leaving the market place.
a) Contact them and try to make a deal to get access to their customer list, along with their endorsement. Offer your new partner a percentage of any deal done to make him happy (after all, it may be one of the only sources of revenue he’ll get from going bust).
b) Take over their phone numbers and web site domains. Here’s an example why:” a drycleaner in the last recession (early 90s) was able to get 6 of his competitor’s phone numbers simply by waiting till they went out of business and then calling the phone company and reserving the number. Whenever someone called the line, he’d say “Drycleaner” and then redirect the potential to one of his locations. Brilliant!”

2) Introduction Selling
The Turnaround Guy Neil Godin uses this. Choose your top 10 customers and ask them for a referral to someone who might need your help. However, instead of just getting a name and phone number, you specifically ask your client to introduce you to their friend before you follow up yourself. This “primes the pump”,  greatly increasing your chances of getting a positive response when you call and ultimately close the deal.

3) Advertise more!
Many business owners rely too much on one or two media to generate new customers for them. Now is the time to be brave. As many businesses cut back on their advertising, media is getting hungry to fill the advertising spots. I recently placed ads in my local paper (in colour) for less than I would have paid for smaller and Black and White a few months ago.

There are many more ideas out there. So I say: “Lets not participate in the Recession!!”